The first stone of the new £50 million Balatonring circuit, which will host next year’s Hungarian Grand Prix was laid on the construction site near Savoly in Western Hungary on Thursday.
Among those attending the event was local star Gabor Talmacsi, together with team manager Jorge Martinez “Aspar” who was also one of the driving forces behind this project.
“I think that it will be exciting to race here because, if you remember Brno, there were 30 to 40,000 people there with my national flag.
” I’d like to try the track as soon as possible to gain an advantage, “said Talmacsi, who has quit 125 to move to the 250GP class in 2009.
The proceedings consisted of laying the first stone and burying a ‘time capsule’ containing mementos of the day and the Hungarian and Spanish flags.
Also present was Carmelo Ezpeleta, Dorna Sports CEO who commented: “Since we first spoke with the Hungarian government and all the represtatives of the project, we have realized that this is a very important for both them and ourselves.
I´m sure that if the weather is OK the track can be finished on time and we can have a Hungarian Grand Prix on 20th September 2009.
”The Balatonring circuit will host MotoGP racing for the next five years starting from 2009.